Building panel

ABSTRACT

A quadrilateral building panel ( 1 ) has a length, a width, and a thickness, the length being an integral number of panel widths. The panel has at least two degree rotational symmetry when rotated about a central axis ( 8 ) extending perpendicularly to a plane containing a major surface ( 9 ) of the panel ( 1 ). Each edge ( 2,3 ) of the panel includes at least one inwardly stepped portion ( 5 ) and at least one outwardly stepped portion ( 6 ) and each inwardly stepped portion ( 5 ) is dimensioned to receive an outwardly stepped portion ( 6 ) on the edge of an adjacent panel, each outwardly stepped portion ( 6 ) projecting a distance corresponding to the panel thickness beyond the inwardly stepped portion ( 5 ). This enables the panel to be assembled in an interengaging manner with other like panels to form a three-dimensional structure so that their major planes are generally parallel and coincident or perpendicular.

The present invention relates to a building panel and, more particularly, to a building panel which may be assembled in an interengaging manner with other like panels to form a three-dimensional structure.

Temporary structures such as storage cabins or thermo-cabins may be constructed with rectangular sheet steel panels filled with foam insulation. Each panel has a tongue along one edge and a complementary groove along an opposite edge whereby the projecting tongue of one panel can engage with the groove of an adjacent, like panel orientated in the same direction. Structures with such panels require corner pieces to join adjacent walls formed from the interengaging panels and it is customary for the floor and roof of such structures to be made from different types of panels designed specifically for that purpose.

An object of the present invention is to provide a building panel for a three dimensional structure which enables the structure to be more simply constructed.

To this end, the invention consists in a quadrilateral building panel having a length, a width, and a thickness, the panel being arranged to be assembled in an interengaging manner with other like panels to form a three-dimensional structure, the panel having stepped portions along its four edges and having at least two degree rotational symmetry when rotated about a central axis extending perpendicularly to a plane containing a major surface of the panel, the length of the panel being an integral number of panel widths.

The building panel may have two degree rotational symmetry or, alternatively, it may have four degree rotational symmetry.

Each edge of the panel may include at least one inwardly stepped portion and at least one outwardly stepped portion and each inwardly stepped portion may be dimensioned to receive an outwardly stepped portion on the edge of an adjacent panel. Along each edge of the panel the at least one outwardly stepped portion may project a distance substantially corresponding to the panel thickness beyond the at least one inwardly stepped portion.

The building panel is preferably configured to interengage with an adjacent like panel so that their major planes are either substantially parallel and coincident or are substantially perpendicular. This is made possible by the panels having their thickness being the same as the distance that the outwardly stepped portion(s) of the panel projects beyond the inwardly stepped portion(s) along the same edge of the panel.

The invention may also provide a structure comprising a plurality of the building panels assembled in an interengaging manner. The major planes of some adjacent panels in the structure may be substantially parallel and coincident and the major planes of some adjacent panels may be substantially perpendicular. The structure may comprise building panels having two degree rotational symmetry and/or building panels having four degree rotational symmetry.

In a preferred embodiment, these building panels may form a cuboid structure wherein like panels can be used for walls, floors and roofs/ceilings without the need of any corner pieces since an inwardly stepped portion of one panel can receive an outwardly stepped portion of an adjacent like panel which is either parallel or perpendicular to said one panel. At corners of the structure adjacent panels all mutually interengage without the need of any corner pieces. By using a single type of panel (or panels in accordance with the invention) for walls, floors, and roofs/ceilings and without requiring corner pieces, structures formed from such panels are more economical and simpler to construct.

The panel may have at least one rounded edge enabling the panel to interengage an adjacent panel at an angle which is not a multiple of 90° such as an obtuse angle. The rounded edge may be along at least part of the distal edge of at least one of the outwardly stepped portions.

The at least one stepped portion may include means for securing adjacent panels to each other. The securing means may include elongate holes extending through the outwardly stepped portions for the receipt of elongate members which extend through the aligned elongate holes of adjacent interengaged panels. The elongate member may be a sliding bolt. The securing means may alternatively comprise a locking cam and/or a push fit configuration. There may be insulation within the panel possibly introduced by means of injection and the insulation may be injected into the panel via the end of one or more of the elongate holes.

The building panel preferably comprises a pair of complementary tray-like members connected to each other around peripheries thereof to provide a double-skinned panel. Each tray-like member may include edge portions, defining halves of the protruding portions and substantially semi-circular recesses which clamp round tubular members used to define the elongate holes when the pair of tray like members are brought together. The building panel may be cut from one flat plate with edge portions extending substantially perpendicularly from a major surface of the tray like member. The edge portions may be bent into their final position relative to the major surface of the tray like member. There may be ribs extending along one or both major surfaces of the panel.

Such building panels can easily be made strong and lightweight and may be waterproof and fireproof. Furthermore they can be cheaply and easily manufactured.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a building panel constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the panel;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the panel;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of two tray-like members used for forming the panel;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of part of a structure constructed with building panels as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4;

FIGS. 6 to 8 illustrate an alternative embodiment of the building panel and show similar views to FIGS. 1 to 3, respectively; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a modified building panel of the alternative embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the panel of FIG. 9;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are a perspective view and a plan view respectively of two of the building panels as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 interengaged; and

FIGS. 13 and 14 are elevational views of the interengaged panels along the lines 13-13 and 14-14 shown on FIG. 12.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings, the building panel 1 is generally rectangular in plan and has a thickness T. The panel 1 has opposed end edges 2 interconnected by opposed side edges 3 defining a surrounding edge 4 made up from alternating relatively inwardly stepped portions 5 and relatively outwardly stepped portions 6. Along each edge 2,3 the or each inwardly stepped portion 5 is recessed a distance T in from the or each outwardly stepped portion 6. A notional perimeter 7 of the panel, which is shown by means of a chain dot line in FIG. 2, is located T/2 outwardly from each inwardly stepped portion 5 and T/2 inwardly of an outer surface of each outwardly stepped portion 6. The perimeter 7 defines a panel width W and a panel length L equal to two times W. The panel length L may be equal to any integral number of panel widths W. The panel 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 includes one inwardly stepped portion 5 and one outwardly stepped portion 6 along each end edge 2 and two inwardly stepped portions 5 and two outwardly stepped portions 6 along each side edge 3. The lengths of each of the stepped portions 5,6 are substantially equal and substantially correspond to W/2. Each corner stepped portion, though, is either T/2 greater than W/2 in length or T/2 less than W/2 in length as is evident from FIG. 2. The width W of the panel may be equal to a different multiple of stepped portion lengths l such as three or more. The length of each inwardly stepped portion 5 is dimensioned to receive a complementary outwardly stepped portion 6 of an adjacent like panel 1 orientated in the same direction and the stepped portions are arranged so that the panel 1 has two degree rotational symmetry when rotated about a central axis 8 extending perpendicularly to a major surface 9 of the panel 1.

Each outwardly stepped portion 6 has an elongate hole 10 extending therethrough which is configured to align with an elongate hole of an adjacent interengaged panel. Thus, the axis of each hole 10 is coincident with the notional perimeter 7 of the building panel 1.

The building panel 1 is formed from a pair of complementary tray-like members 11 connected to each other around their peripheries to provide a double-skinned panel. One of these tray-like members 11 is illustrated in FIG. 4 and has a flat base 12 with a raised edge or lip 13 around its perimeter. The tray-like member 11 is cut from one flat plate or sheet of material such as an aluminium alloy or steel and ribs 14 (see FIG. 5) are pressed into the plate and are arranged to extend along the base 12 of the member 11. The lip 13 is formed from edge portions extending from major surface 15 of the base 12 and which are bent from the base 12 so that they are perpendicular to the major surface 15 of the base 12. Portions 16 of the lip 13 define halves of each of the outwardly stepped portions 4 and each half 16 has a pair of semi-circular recesses 17 centred on the notional perimeter 7. The pair of semi-circular recesses 17 for each outwardly stepped portion clamp around a tubular member 18 (shown exploded from the semi-circular recesses) used to define the elongate hole 10 when the pair of tray-like members 11 are brought together.

One of the tray-like members 11 has an aperture 19 through which foam insulation can be inserted into the building panel 1 once the two tray-like members 11 have been brought together.

Part of a three-dimensional structure 20 constructed from the building panels 1 is illustrated in FIG. 5. The part shown has three walls 21,22,23 formed along three sides of a floor 24. The walls each comprise one building panel and the floor is formed from two adjacent building panels 25,26. All of the panels 21,22,23,25,26 are of the same type. The two floor panels 25,26 interengage so that their major planes are parallel. They interengage along their adjacent side edges wherein the two inwardly recessed portions 5 a of each floor panel receive the complementary outwardly stepped portions 6 a of the adjacent side edge of the adjacent floor panel. The stepped portions 5 b,6 b along outer side edges of the floor panels 25,26 not interengaging with each other interengage, respectively, with the stepped portions 5 c,6 c along lower side edges of the two opposed wall panels 21,22. The two opposed wall panels 21,22 are connected by the third wall panel 23 having stepped portions 5 d,6 d along its end edges which mutually interengage with the stepped portions 5 e,6 e along the adjacent, respective, end edges of the two opposite wall panels 21,22. Furthermore, the stepped portions 5 f,6 f along the side edge of the bottom of the wall panel 23 interengage with the stepped portions 5 g, 6 g along the adjacent end edges of the two floor panels 25,26. Hence, each wall panel shown interengages with at least one adjacent wall panel and an adjacent floor panel so that their major planes are perpendicular.

The elongate holes 10 extending through the outwardly stepped portions 6 of adjacent panel edges are aligned with each other. Sliding bolts (not shown) are slid through the aligned elongate holes 10 to secure the adjacent panels together. Various alternative fixing means may be provided of types well known to those experienced in the art.

Another building panel 27 is illustrated FIGS. 6 to 8 and is similar to the panel of the first embodiment except that it is substantially square in plan with an inwardly stepped portion 5 and an outwardly stepped portion 6 on each side. The square panel 27 has four degree rotational symmetry when rotated about the central axis 28 extending perpendicularly to a major surface 29 of the panel.

Such building panels 27 may be used in conjunction with building panels 1 of the first embodiment or on their own.

The building panel 30 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is similar to the building panel 27 illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 8 except that the distal edge 31 of each outwardly stepped portion 32 is rounded and elongate holes have been omitted. The axis of the rounding is coincident with the notional perimeter 33, which is shown by means of a chain dot in FIG. 10, of the building panel 30.

The distal rounded edge 31 enables the panel 30 to interengage with another such panel 30′ at an obtuse angle as illustrated for example in FIGS. 11 to 14. One of the outwardly stepped portions 32 is shown on FIG. 12 with an elongate hole 34 extending therethrough which aligns with the elongate hole (obscured from view) of the adjacent interengaged panel 30′. Thus, the axis of the hole 34 is coincident with the axis of the rounding of the distal edge 31 of the outwardly stepped portions 32.

Such building panels 30 may be used in conjunction with building panels 1,27 of the first two embodiments.

Whilst particular embodiments have been described, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the side edges and the end edges of the building panel may have any number of alternating inwardly and outwardly stepped portions provided the lengths of the stepped portions are substantially the same and the length and width of the panel are substantially equal to an integral number of stepped portion lengths. It is also important that the length of the panel is an integral multiple of the panel width.

At least one of the tubular members 18 may have an aperture through its side to enable insulation to be injected into the building panel via the elongate hole(s) defined by the tubular members.

The ribbing on the building panels is optional.

The outwardly stepped portions of the building panel 1 of the first embodiment may have distal rounded edges. A building panel may have a mixture of outwardly stepped portions which have rounded distal edges and those which have not (i.e. “squared” edges).

References in the specification to rotational symmetry relate to the general overall shape of the panel and not necessarily to minor features such as fixing means associated therewith. 

1. A quadrilateral building panel having a length, a width, and a thickness, the panel being arranged to be assembled in an interengaging manner with other like panels to form a three-dimensional structure, the panel having stepped portions along its four edges and having at least two degree rotational symmetry when rotated about a central axis extending perpendicularly to a plane containing a major surface of the panel, the length of the panel being an integral number of panel widths.
 2. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the panel is configured to interengage an adjacent like panel so that their major planes are substantially parallel and coincident.
 3. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the panel is configured to interengage an adjacent like panel so that their major planes are substantially perpendicular.
 4. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein each edged of the panel includes at least one inwardly stepped portion and at least one outwardly stepped portion and each inwardly stepped portion is dimensioned to receive an outwardly stepped portion on the edge of an adjacent panel.
 5. The building panel as claimed in claim 4, wherein along each edge of the panel the at least one outwardly stepped portion projects a distance substantially corresponding to the panel thickness beyond the at least one inwardly stepped portion.
 6. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, including at least one rounded edge enabling the panel to interengage an adjacent panel at an angle which is not a multiple of 90°.
 7. The building panel as claimed in claim 6, wherein the rounded edge is along at least part of the distal edge of at least one of the outwardly stepped portions.
 8. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one stepped portion includes means for securing adjacent panels to each other.
 9. The building panel as claimed in claim 4, wherein the securing means includes elongate holes extending through the outwardly stepped portions for the receipt of elongate members which extend through the aligned elongate holes of adjacent interengaged panels.
 10. The building panel as claimed in claim 9, wherein the elongate member comprises a sliding bolt.
 11. The building panel as claimed in claim 8, wherein the securing means comprises a locking cam and/or a push fit configuration.
 12. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the panel comprises a pair of complementary tray-like members connected to each other around peripheries thereof to provide a double-skinned panel.
 13. The building panel as claimed in claim 9, wherein each tray-like member includes edge portions, each defining half of one of the outwardly stepped portions and substantially semi-circular recesses which clamp around a tubular member used to define one of the elongate holes when the pair of tray like members are brought together.
 14. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, including insulation within the panel.
 15. The building panel as claimed in claim 14, wherein at least one tray-like member has an aperture for injection of said insulation into the panel.
 16. The building panel as claimed in claim 9, wherein at least one elongate hole is provided for injection of said insulation into the panel.
 17. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the panel has two degree rotational symmetry.
 18. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the panel has four degree rotational symmetry.
 19. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the panel is cut from one flat plate.
 20. The building panel as claimed in claim 1, including ribs extending along a said major surface of the panel.
 21. A structure comprising a plurality of said building panels as claimed in claim 1 and assembled in an interengaging manner. 